What England lose with Eoin Morgan missing World Cup

The news that England’s Eoin Morgan is to miss the World Cup because of a
broken finger is a major blow to their chances with his one-day record
comparing favourably with the top ten batsmen in the short form of the game.

Missing the action: Eoin Morgan will not travel to the World Cup with England after breaking a finger in AustraliaPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Steve Wilson

6:03PM GMT 09 Feb 2011

Morgan joined England’s long list of walking wounded returning from the Ashes tour in Australia.

The majority of those who face a fight to be fit for the trip to the subcontinent are specialist bowlers but, arguably, England’s batting depth is such that Morgan’s injury could be the most damaging of all.

Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad, Paul Collingwood, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett all picked up knocks of varying seriousness in Australia, though Morgan is the first to be ruled out of the competition.

“It is the nature of the beast that you are going to get injuries," said captain Andrew Strauss. “Fortunately he is a young guy with many more opportunities ahead of him.”

Morgan will be replaced by Ravi Bopara, an able player but without Morgan's reliability when it comes to closing out a match or adaptability to anchor an innings.